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Mediating Effects of Working Memory in the Relation Between Rapid Automatized Naming and Chinese Reading Comprehension

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Abstract

This study examined the mediating role of working memory (WM) in the relation between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and Chinese reading comprehension. Three tasks assessing differentially visual and verbal components of WM were programmed by E-prime 2.0. Data collected from 55 Chinese college students were analyzed using correlations and hierarchical regression methods to determine the connection among RAN, reading comprehension, and WM components. Results showed that WM played a significant mediating role in the RAN-reading relation and that auditory WM made stronger contributions than visual WM. Taking into account of the multi-component nature of WM and the specificity of Chinese reading processing, this study discussed the mediating powers of the WM components, particularly auditory WM, further clarifying the possible components involved in the RAN-reading relation and thus providing some insight into the complicated Chinese reading process.

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Acknowledgments

The research was supported by China Foundation of Social Sciences Research Project (No. 09BYY02) granted to the corresponding author.

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  1. College of Foreign Languages, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou City, 350007, Fujian Province, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaoqian Weng, Guangze Li & Rongbao Li

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  1. Xiaoqian Weng
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  2. Guangze Li
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Correspondence to Rongbao Li.

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Weng, X., Li, G. & Li, R. Mediating Effects of Working Memory in the Relation Between Rapid Automatized Naming and Chinese Reading Comprehension. J Psycholinguist Res 45, 945–959 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-015-9385-z

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